CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) RESOURCE CENTER Read More
Add To Favorites

Glastonbury woman's lawyer disbarred for 'malicious' claims

Journal Inquirer - 1/27/2022

Jan. 27—A Superior Court judge has disbarred the lawyer who was representing a Glastonbury woman in her high-conflict divorce, saying the lawyer lied to the court and made "empty and malicious claims" that another judge favored Jews, protected pedophiles, and discriminated against the disabled.

Judge Thomas G. Moukawsher disbarred the lawyer, Nickola J. Cunha, who practices in Hamden, in a 20-page decision, dated Tuesday.

A call to Cunha's office late Wednesday afternoon wasn't immediately returned. She can appeal her disbarment and, if it remains in effect, can apply for reinstatement of her license to practice law after five years.

The disbarment stems from things Cunha did while representing Karen Ambrose of Glastonbury, who now uses the last name Riordan, in a divorce case filed by her husband, Christopher Ambrose of Madison.

The judge Cunha accused of favoring Jews, protecting pedophiles, and discriminating against the disabled is Gerard I. Adelman, a semi-retired judge trial referee who is assigned to the regional family trial docket in Middletown, as is Moukawsher.

Moukawsher wrote in the decision disbarring Cunha that she "failed to show a scintilla of evidence" to prove her bias claims against Adelman.

Adelman referred the case to Moukawsher after Cunha "berated" Adelman during the divorce trial, Moukawsher wrote, explaining that he asked whether either party was seeking to disqualify Adelman and that Cunha subsequently filed a motion to do so.

At a hearing on the motion, Cunha repeatedly asserted that Adelman "has a bias against anyone that is not of the Jewish faith," Moukawsher wrote.

When Moukawsher pressed for her evidence for that claim, Cunha said she had a list of cases that would support it, he continued. But he said she ultimately admitted she had no such list.

In response to a question from Moukawsher, Cunha had confirmed that she was claiming the existence of a "broader Jewish conspiracy" involving lawyers and other professionals who work with the family court as well as Adelman.

Moukawsher wrote that accusing a judge of racism "is a monstrous claim to make without thought, without evidence, without restraint, repeatedly, on the record, in court, with a specific claim about a list — that proves not to exist.

"When lawyers speak, the public rightly assumes they don't speak lightly," Moukawsher continued. "After all, the truth is their business. Therefore, Ms. Cunha's lies about a Jewish conspiracy are particularly reprehensible. Without the court exposing them as lies, the public might give them some credit when they deserve none.

"Misconduct like this threatens to drag the courts into the primordial ooze that passes for public discourse in some quarters today," Moukawsher wrote.

As to her claim that Adelman protected pedophiles, Cunha said in court that a multidisciplinary task force had concluded that Christopher Ambrose sexually abused his children and that the conclusion was stated in a state Department of Children and Families report.

Moukawsher concluded, however, that the DCF report contained no such information.

Cunha also said DCF never investigated sexual assault allegations against Christopher Ambrose, according to Moukawsher. But he said he found in the trial record documentation that DCF had investigated allegations that Christopher Ambrose abused or neglected children and had found 10 such allegations "unsubstantiated," including three sexual abuse allegations involving two children.

When Moukawsher held a hearing seeking Cunha's defense of her conduct, she instead turned her fire on him, calling the proceedings "intentionally harassing and intimidation" and accusing him of "gross malfeasance," he wrote.

For updates on Glastonbury, and recent crime and courts coverage in North-Central Connecticut, follow Alex Wood on Twitter: @AlexWoodJI1, Facebook: Alex Wood, and Instagram: @AlexWoodJI.

___

(c)2022 Journal Inquirer, Manchester, Conn.

Visit Journal Inquirer, Manchester, Conn. at www.journalinquirer.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.